More than 1,500 Albertans affected by flu this season

There have been at least 1,500 confirmed cases of influenza this flu season, Alberta Health Services said Thursday.

The agency also downgraded the number of deaths from nine to eight. The number was adjusted after tests showedthat a case initially thought to be influenza was something else.

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The province also said more than one millionAlbertanshave been immunized so far, a record number.

Alberta Health Service's Dr. Judy MacDonald said public flu vaccine clinics will end after the weekend.

"We have enough for today and tomorrow. But when it's gone, it's gone," saidMacDonald on Thursday afternoon.

In Calgary, hundredslined up Thursday to receive theflu vaccination at BrentwoodMall in the city's northwest.Most were there hours before the clinic opened at 11 a.m. MT.There was a three-hour wait at the clinic just before noon.

Samantha Green is one of those that lined up.

Im No. 283 and I got here at 9:30 a.m. MT and the clinic doesnt open until 11 a.m. MT, she said.

Alberta's Health Minister Fred Horne said Wednesday the provincial supply could run out by the end of the week.

Horne said the province's recent shipment was the last available "on the planet."

Nova Scotia health officials said Thursdaythey were freeing up 1,300 doses of their reserves to send to other provinces experiencing shortages.

Earlier this week Premier AlisonRedford asked people to be patient, saying anyone who wanted the flu shot would be able to get it.

Health workers are always encouraged to get the vaccine. In the Calgary zone, 45 per cent of AHS employees had received the flu vaccine as of Monday. That's the lowest rate in the province.

Source: Alberta Health Services